Tinkham co-defendant takes plea deal in jail fight case

Thursday

Jul 27, 2017 at 9:07 PMJul 27, 2017 at 9:07 PM

Robert Connelly The Register-Mail RConnelly_

About this story: One of the six remaining co-defendants in the Dakota Tinkham case had one of his other cases resolved this week in Knox County Circuit Court. The Register-Mail sought to get an update on where those cases stand as well as previously unreported cases in Warren County involving two of the co-defendants.

GALESBURG — A Galesburg man took a misdemeanor plea deal in a jail fight case this week.

Charles E. Posey, 19, Country Elms Estates and formerly of Alexis, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery Wednesday morning. He had a felony count of aggravated battery dismissed in the plea deal.

He was given a one-year sentence in the Knox County jail, and given credit for 361 days served. That means his sentence will be completed in the coming days.

He was also fined $252. The case was an August 2016 jail fight involving a fellow male inmate from Yates City.

Posey's time served is that high because he, along with the other five co-defendants, await a disposition in his case for his alleged role in the residential burglary, home invasion and murder of Dakota R. Tinkham, 19, in his 1126 Emery St. home in March 2016.

All six men are scheduled to return to court for pretrial hearings in late August or early September.

The only co-defendant to go to trial, Miguel A. Romo, 20, West Tompkins Street, was found guilty in a jury trial earlier this year and received a 40-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections on June 1.

Posey; Raymond M. Gabel, 20, Country Elms Estates; and Dalton B. McKee, 21, North Park Circle in Monmouth, were all reportedly in the second car and only allegedly were involved in the first residential burglary of Tinkham's residence.

Gabel and McKee are both charged with residential burglary in a separate case in Warren County. Those charges were filed late last spring and involved a burglary in Monmouth.

McKee's case in Warren County was dismissed with leave to reinstate early last summer as he remained in the Knox County jail on the charge related to the Tinkham case. Gabel's case file still has a pending arrest warrant with bail set at $100,000, $10,000 needed to get out of jail, in his Warren County case.

Warren County State's Attorney Andrew Doyle said Thursday morning that he believed those Warren County residential burglary cases would most likely run concurrently with whatever McKee and Gabel receive in Knox County.

Defense attorney Kyle Worby of Monmouth, who represents Gabel, also had that same understanding Thursday morning. Additionally, Gabel had been on probation for six days before Tinkham was killed and hasn't had a petition to revoke that probation filed as of Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, Knox County public defender Dan O'Brien said he expects Devontae D. Williams, 18, East North Street, to waive his right to a jury trial at the Sept. 5 pretrial call.

Devontae Williams testified during Romo's trial to his actions, including shooting Tinkham in the head in an attempted pistol-whip gone wrong. Prosecutors made an agreement with Devontae Williams before his testimony that they would not recommend more than 45 years in prison for his case for that testimony.

After waiving his right to a jury trial, a plea would be entered to be followed by a pre-sentence investigation to be performed by a probation officer, which normally take 45 days to 60 days.

That means Williams could potentially be sentenced in late October.

The other cases would be resolved after that, including co-defendants Jovendia C. Williams, 20, West Berrien Street, and Justin D. Timmons, 18, West Berrien Street. Those two also testified against Romo.

Timmons and Devontae Williams were juveniles charged as adults at the time of the offense. Both have turned 18 since then, but remained held in custody at the Mary Davis Home.

Devontae Williams, Timmons, Jovendia Williams and Romo were all reportedly in the first car and went back to Tinkham's residence the second time. According to testimony during Romo's trial, Timmons waited in the car while Jovendia Williams acted as a lookout and Romo and Devontae Williams were in Tinkham's home when he was killed.